Self-assembly of a fac-Mn(CO)3-core containing dinuclear metallacycles using flexible ditopic linkers

Syntheses of manganese(i)-based dinuclear metallacycles have been accomplished under facile one-pot reaction conditions at room temperature. Self-assembly of four components has resulted in the formation of M2L2-type metallacycles [Mn(CO)3Br(μ-NLN)]2 (1-5) using pentacarbonylbromomanganese as the metal precursor and flexible ligands such as 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane (bpa), 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)propane (bpp), 1,2-ethanediyl di-4-pyridine carboxylate (edp), 1,4-butanediyl di-4-pyridine carboxylate (budp), and 1,6-hexanediyl di-4-pyridine carboxylate (hedp) as linkers. The metallacycles have been characterized on the basis of IR, NMR, UV-vis, and ESI-mass spectroscopic techniques and single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods. The host capability of the metallacycles has been demonstrated using single-crystal X-ray crystallography.